A disk drive, such as a magnetic disk drive, comprises a magnetic disk, spindle motor, magnetic head, and carriage assembly. The magnetic disk is disposed in a base. The spindle motor supports and rotates the disk. The magnetic head reads and writes data from and to the disk. The carriage assembly supports the head for movement relative to the disk. The carriage assembly comprises a pivotably supported arm and a suspension extending from the arm, and the magnetic head is supported on an extended end of the suspension. The head comprises a slider mounted on the suspension and a head section mounted on the slider. The head section comprises a reproduction element for reading and a recording element for writing.
The slider has a facing surface or air-bearing surface (ABS) opposed to a recording surface of the magnetic disk. When the disk drive is actuated, airflow is produced between the rotating disk and slider. Thereupon, the facing surface of the slider is subjected to a force (positive pressure) that causes the slider to fly above the recording surface of the disk, based on the principle of air lubrication. By balancing this flying force and a head load, the slider can be caused to fly with a gap above the disk surface.
A slider comprising a center-rail ABS has recently been proposed as a magnetic disk slider (e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2004/0150916A1). This slider is designed so that a groove that guides airflow from an air inflow end to an outflow end is disposed along its central axis, whereby a pressure produced by an outflow pad can be increased. Thus, various properties of the slider, such as a reduction in flying height due to a pressure reduction, vibration caused by sudden disturbance, etc., are improved.
In the magnetic head constructed in this manner, a higher rate of airflow to the outflow pad may increase the possibility of dust, contaminants, etc., getting into a space between the slider and disk, thereby damaging the disk and degrading the head performance.